Programs:
Health & Sexuality

Research
by Marissa Salcedo and Ismoon Hunter-Morton

News
item on YWCA hotel/residence
featuring new bride, 1962

Beauty
& Grooming, 1970s

The
YWCA's attention to the physical well-being of women and girls was
aided by the strong
presence of women
in the medical and nursing professions in the early 20th century.
The YWCA offered female physicians and nurses aprofessional outlet while
providing important education to those seeking health information. Girls
participating on teams and other sporting activities were routinely
given physical exams and advice about health care. Classes on nutrition,
grooming, and sexuality -- often referred to as "social hygiene"
in the early years -- gave curious or confused girls a very clear message.
Girls' bodies were
their own to care for but conservatism in bodily matters -- dress, comportment,
and sexuality -- was taught and sometimes enforced.

A
strong YWCA message about chastity and the ideal of heterosexual marriage
was consistent throughout most of the twentieth century. The idea
of enhancing the female body as an investment for marriage was evident
in classes in charm, etiquette, and grooming. In the 1960s and 1970s,
the YWCA sponsored a health week as well as breast cancer awareness
through its Encore Program. Only in the mid-1980s did the YWCA address
the needs of lesbian women, specifically through a national antihomophobia
campaign and locally, through the "Sisterhands" health project.